


have you tried -

by Val Mora (valmora)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky's Arm, Gen, Post-TWS, post-recovery, water-damaged electronics, whatever "post-recovery" means
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-24 22:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3786694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valmora/pseuds/Val%20Mora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes a lucky bullet, a downpour, a lot of mud, and a bag of rice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	have you tried -

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by that bit in the fight scene on the bridge where Natasha shocks the Winter Soldier's arm, and he reboots it by swinging it in a backwards circle.

It's raining, hard, and Hydra hangers-on are taking potshots at them like they think a couple bullets every ten seconds are really going to deter Captain America and the Winter Soldier.

Bucky's arm is even bulletproof. They made it that way; they should know better. The irregular _tink_ noises of the bullets bouncing off is sort of relaxing.

_Chunk_ , rattles one of them, oddly, and Bucky grunts, before there's yet another shout from in front of them.

Steve wipes rain off his face – he has no idea how Bucky's managing, with his hair still shoulder-length and messy – and pushes the shield a few feet forward to change their vantage.

 

Three hours later, soaked through and smeared with mud – it's even on the inside of his helmet, how did _that_ happen – sitting next to Bucky on the plane, he watches Bucky scrape mud out of the plates of his arm.

Bucky suddenly shudders briefly, then swears, arm falling limp to his side and dragging his shoulders with.

"Bucky?" He didn't look like he'd been injured, but he's good at hiding it when he is, so maybe it's only just catching up to him – 

Bucky elbows Steve's hands out of the way, with only his right elbow. "I'll be okay, just need to clean it. And to get a bag of rice."

"Okay," Steve says, quiet, and goes back to leaning into his side, though lighter now that he's listing.

It takes six hours to get to Stark Industries' medical clinic, where Bucky submits to a scan from JARVIS's isolated medical scanner, which is minimally invasive and is actually most of the room. Nothing irregular, physically, shows up, and Steve's bullet scrapes are already healed.

Bucky spends the next two hours swearing and cleaning his arm with a variety of implements that he fished out of the gun safe. He then submerges his arm in the better part of forty pounds of rice.

"How long you gotta leave it there?" Steve asks, after Bucky's watched six episodes of _Mythbusters_ in a row without getting up except to piss.

Bucky shrugs, one-armed. "'til it's dry. Water didn't reach the batteries, just a couple of the circuits, so overnight, maybe a coupla days." He looks away, jaw tightening, then says, "Think I shorted it out once, but don't remember how long it took to dry out."

Steve swallows, sitting down on the couch and putting his feet up against the side of the bag. "D'you need Tony to check it?"

"Nah." Bucky shifts, with a rustle of grain. "It was designed to handle it. Just a hassle."

On screen, something explodes. They both flinch, a little, and pretend not to notice that.

 

Over Chinese in the common area, Tony waves his chopsticks at Bucky. "Okay, I know why my favorite prosthetic is in a bag of rice. Why does my favorite prosthetic need to be in a bag of rice?"

Bucky grunts and wrestles with a bowl of noodle soup. "Rain."

"You mean it's not waterproof, and they were putting you in _cryo_?"

Bucky rolls his head, his neck cracking. "Is. Got in."

"Do you need me to –"

"No." Bucky rolls his shoulders and unearths his arm from the bag of rice. Grains spill in a small waterfall onto the floor. Steve makes an involuntary noise of protest at the mess. "Been forty-eight hours." 

He swings his arm in a reverse circle, over his head, the gears in the shoulder joint whirring. The elbow makes a grinding noise, then starts whirring too. He clenches his hand, then spreads the fingers one at a time, rotating the wrist.

"All better." It's a little smug. So sue him.

"Wow," Tony says, undeterred, "How does that reboot protocol work? Can we do that again?"

Bucky sighs. He should've known it wouldn't put Tony off.


End file.
